Italy vs Netherlands Preview

This game would have easily been a World Cup semi-final or Quarterfinal match, but the reality is these two teams will not be at this year’s FIFA World Cup after suffering shocking losses in the qualifiers.

Sweden finished ahead of the Dutch in their qualifying group stage and went on to beat Italy in the playoffs, so these teams are presently living on past glory while they restructure themselves.

If you take a good look at the squad that these two teams have named for their recent games, you’d see that there is a genuine lack of quality within their ranks at the moment and that could be why they won’t be at the World Cup, not necessarily the brilliance of Sweden.

The Netherlands have been affected by the retirement of some key players like Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneidjer and there is still a genuine lack of youthful quality in their team with only the Ajax duo of Matthijs de Ligt and Justin Kluivert the youngest players to keep an eye on.

Italy seem to have a better squad, however, only Mario Balotelli has more than six national team goals in the current squad, while the likes of Lorenzo Insigne and Simeone Zaza have no reputation on the international stage.

Italy’s midfield is also an inexperienced one with only Alessandro Florenzi having more than ten caps as the regular Marco Verratti is not involved in these games.

This is the 5^th time these teams have met in a friendly, and the Italians have won two and drawn two.

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

Italy

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	Italy		2-1		Saudi Arabia	28 May, 2018	International Friendly
D	England		1-1		Italy	27 Mar, 2018	International Friendly
L	Argentina		2-0		Italy	23 Mar, 2018	International Friendly
D	Italy		0-0		Sweden	13 Nov, 2017	FIFA World Cup Qualifying – UEFA
L	Sweden		1-0		Italy	10 Nov, 2017	FIFA World Cup Qualifying – UEFA

Netherlands

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
D	Slovakia		1-1		Netherlands	31 May, 2018	International Friendly
W	Portugal		0-3		Netherlands	26 Mar, 2018	International Friendly
L	Netherlands		0-1		England	23 Mar, 2018	International Friendly
W	Romania		0-3		Netherlands	14 Nov, 2017	International Friendly
W	Scotland		0-1		Netherlands	9 Nov, 2017	International Friendly

H2H

LAST FIVE GAMES					DATE	COMPETITION
Netherlands		1-2		Italy	28 Mar, 2017	International Friendly
Italy		2-0		Netherlands	4 Sep, 2014	International Friendly
Netherlands		1-1		Italy	6 Feb, 2013	International Friendly
Italy		0-0		Netherlands	14 Nov, 2009	International Friendly
Netherlands		3-0		Italy	9 Jun, 2008	UEFA European Championship